I do not have a pet squirrel

[james_davis_nicoll]

But I think the opportunity offered itself this afternoon.

Comments

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Oooo. Tempting, very tempting. :)

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the Nicoll Distressed Cat Broadcast System needs a tune-up?

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember that a raccoon tried to slip into Chez Nicoll, apparently hoping to be mistaken for a cat.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

An adult skunk, actually.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

The raccoon was either mooching off the food put for squirrels by the owners of the house I caretake or it was in fact the animal they assumed without checking was squirrels. It's old acquaintance of mine.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

It worked so well in the old cartoons!

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

And then there's the famous Squirrel and Beet Pulp story - which is now a pdf with pictures, and poor little William has probably long since gone to his reward, but which still breaks me up. Here's where to find the pdf:
http://www.allcreaturesanimalhealth.com/site/view/212994_EquineNutritionArticles.pml

Now. Think about that, and think about James Nicoll. Can you imagine the heights to which his Nicoll Event scale could reach? :)

Bwahahahaha. :)

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

You really, really should.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

The cats would murderise it, yes?

[timgueguen.livejournal.com]

Hard to say with that bunch. Ibid might try to make friends with the squirrel, thinking it was a small, funny looking cat, and not a large, funny looking mouse.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Fig would eat it. He's quite an avid hunter.

[kaffy_r]

Squirrels!

Uh ... I mean ... why that's interesting. Yeah, that's what I meant.

(With 3 cats - and I know I'm just a piker compared to you, James, but still - I couldn't have a squirrel in the house. But I would like to have one. Cheeky little beggars ....

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I suspect that several in the neighbourhood have adopted my household - and its several neighbours - like it or not. They don't even bother setting foot inside, as the back yard has provided more than sufficient bounty for their liking.

What they'll do once the apple trees doomed by fire blight are gone after tomorrow scarcely bears thinking about.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

Squirrels is the backyard is a common event here, along with rabbits, crows and, I merely suspect, racoons.

A friend had a squirrel move into her house. IIRC she was shocked at the damage caused by said squirrel.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

For eastern Ottawa, I can confirm the raccoon visitations as an occasional event. Also, crows, grackles, rabbits, and the very occasional wild turkey.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

We don't get turkeys (other than politicians) but unfortunately we do get grackles which I do not like very much.

When I was young we used to get a lot of sparrows, chickadees and robins but I never see them very much now. Blue jays have become much more common.

The boom in rabbits and squirrels is likely due to Morris, our neighbour's cat, has reached an age where chasing and catching small mammals is too difficult for him. Now they just stare at each other.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Which must be relieving and entertaining for the non-felines in the equation, I suspect.

[thunderflyer.livejournal.com]

I have had three squirrels and a racoon as pets, abiding with cats and a dog.

As long as the squirrel has a safe place to retreat.to, and you don't mind cleaning up squirrel pellets everywhere, and like wearing your pet for a hat, and can deal with crumbs everywhere, all of the time, they make interesting pets. Just don't feed it fresh produce that hasn't been utterly cleaned of all pesticides.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

A raccoon? And your brain is still functional, I see from your ability to post about the fact.

oWe had her f

[thunderflyer.livejournal.com]

We had her for 12 years.

After we had raised her for a year, the health department heard about her and wanted to examine her for rabies. We contacted the Fish and Wildlife Commission and got a license to handle and keep domestic wildlife, which kept the health department at bay.

I mean, after a year of sharing our food, getting bitten, sleeping with, and otherwise being exposed to her saliva, we hadn't contracted rabies.

I would never recommend living with a racoon, but I wouldn't trade the experience for all of the gold in Fort Knox.

Re: oWe had her f

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

a year of sharing our food, getting bitten, sleeping with,

There's a video of a fellow explaining that he uses a particular body spray to discourage his raccoon from nipping him. "You may have noticed I am bleeding profusely--"

Re: Re: oWe had her f

[thunderflyer.livejournal.com]

Their bite is nothing to mess with. The worst of it is it is puncture wounds that just have to heal without intervention. For us, though, it was totally worth it when she saved my Dad's and dog's life from a pit bull that had broken into our house. Imagine a 15 pound racoon beating the crap out of a crazed 80 pound dog trained to fight to the death.

Speaking of Health and Safety

[dewline.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be the saliva I worried about.

The potential for brain damage from parasites lurking in food waste after digestion, cited on a raccoon-specific episode of The Nature of Things, is what worries me.

But I suspect that, after the discussions with the relevant authorities you've just referred to, you already knew to watch for that.

Re: Speaking of Health and Safety

[thunderflyer.livejournal.com]

We handled her waste the same way we handled the cat waste. While she didn't use a litter box, she was trained to go in the bathtub drain, or on newspapers if the door was shut.

[galestorm.livejournal.com]

My father once had a squirrel that had a crush on him.

Okay, he didn't have the squirrel, but it was living nearby, and it would see him emerge from the house and scamper up to him. My dad has never been the type to feed wildlife, so that was not the interest. His beard, however, might have been what sparked this squirrel to follow Dad about the yard. Yes, this lady squirrel might have thought that Dad was actually a squirrel, or else some human-squirrel hybrid. :-D

[quirkytizzy.livejournal.com]

Squirrels are my second favorite animal. I would LOVE to have one as a pet! (Except I hear they are kind of mean in captivity.)

[laetitia-apis.livejournal.com]

You don't have to keep them inside. Spot duns us for peanuts whenever we sit on the front patio.

But we do get worried whenever we haven't seen him for a few days.

[thunderflyer.livejournal.com]

It depends on the individual and their environment. The key is to remember it is a wild animal, even if it was raised by hand from before it could see. It has specialized needs, that thanks to the internet, are easy to research and meet.

[carbonel]

Squirrels are rats with cute tails. Some people have rats as pets, but mostly not as free-range critters.

I used to be neutral-to-positive on the subject of squirrels until I lived in a house with squirrels in the attic. The noise, the chewing, the holes in things, and the attacks on my roofing material all left me with a distinct dislike for the critters. I'm with the character in an Arthur C. Clarke story who called them "tree-rats."

There's currently an albino one that's been hanging around my house. It's rather pretty, but I wish it would stay away from my roof.